Everyone is judged by their looks. It has been this way for so many years. But why does one jump directly at ones appearance and assume they are a certain way? As we have seen in both, Frankenstein and The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, physical apperance means quite a bit. In Frankenstein, the creature finds himself continually mocked and judged by the way he looks. Yes, one would agree that he does look quite frightening, but his appearance did not match the way he felt and thought, the creature became what he was because of everyone's neglect and disgust towards him. Why judge a book by its cover? Well it's the human instinct. If a guy approaches you on the street and he might just look a bit dirty or haggard, your first instinct is assuming that he's up to no good, this might be true but not in all cases. The video below will show an extraordinary example on how people judge others based on looks.
As shown in the video above, without paying attention to the bystander affect mentioned therein, a man is laying on the floor acting like he's in pain, he is dressed in moderate clothing and no one approaches him. Towards the end of the video, the same man dresses up in a suit and does the exact same thing and in less than 6 seconds he gets help! What a shocking and astonishing experiment! Even when a person is in agony no one would approach him simply because he looked a bit dirty, yet when the same person dressed up all fancy everyone jumped in to help.
In The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, the same thing applies. Hyde is definitely judged by his looks, but what's different in his case is that he is evil. His personality is reflected by his appearance, he looks ugly therefore he is ugly on the inside. No one ever believed that Jekyll and Hyde could be the same being, because they were completely different from each other in both body and mind. This next video talks about how Susan Boyle was also judged by how she looked, take a peek and find out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSrAJsWvEIc
We can't escape from it, being judged by ones looks is a reality. Would people have accepted the creature in Frankenstein if he was more handsome? Would he have been different or done things differently? Would people have been more lenient towards Hyde if he were prettier, even with his cruel personality? Will we ever stop judging people on their looks? Why does physical appearance matter so much? These questions have yet to be answered. Howhever, considering everything, it is unfortunate but true that looks do matter.
I agree on your point of view, and I sure many other people would too. It's a pity that mankind evolved a natural instinct to judge based on looks a long time ago, it's rather inconvenient now. But consider this (a story from my teacher), one day she walks into the metro and she sees a homeless man sitting on the floor on the metro. This man is cutting himself with a broken bottle, and of course everyone around him is trying their best to ignore this man's presence. So she, being the all righteous one, walks up to the man to offer help but as she approaches, the homeless person thrusts the broken bottle attempting to stab/harm her. I assume she didn't get hurt, but the point is she had nothing but good intentions but she was rejected completely. It's sad but I think that our natural instinct to judge people by the way they look will stick around for a long time. We'll just have to try and be as lenient as possible when it comes to judging others by their appearances. Good post.
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post and I totally agree with you. It's just so easy to look at someone and make up your whole impression on that person, without taking the time to actually get to know them. Also, your video about the guy faking his pain is a real eye opener... I guess the whole idea of wearing nice clothes give the impression that you respect yourself enough to look decent (even if you are not the hottest thing on earth) and that makes people want to respect you. But this obviously does not apply in all cases, as not all of us can afford the suits and such - and, sad to say, but not everyone knows how to dress either... Unfortunately, and I must admit, I find myself drawn to stereotypes sometimes. However, I later ask myself how much do I really know about this person and try to stick with the facts.
ReplyDeleteI defiently agree with what you are saying. Sadly enough we become more of a monster than those we misjudge. Our generations just keep getting worse and more picky with looks. it so hideous that people need to look and be a certain way to get help in a vulnerable situatuion or any situation for that matter. Like the video pointed out, Its all psychological.
ReplyDeleteSO SCARY! WOW. That video should be posted all around the world, another frightening experiment just like the one posted above: PLEASE READ, IT GAVE ME GOOSEBUMPS!
ReplyDelete"A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?"
(Got it from a Facebook wall post, not sure where it was taken from)
I completely agree with what you are saying. I saw something similar to what is shown in this video. Last week, I was waiting for the metro and on the opposite side, there was a woman sitting in the stairs crying. Everyone walked passed her as if they hadn't seen her (even though she was in the middle of the stairs). After roughly 30 seconds, someone asked her whether she was alright and she helped her. I couldn't help but wonder if this was an experiment or if it was real since I had seen this video before. Even though it didn't take as long as in the video to get help, it's a shame that so many people walked past her because they didn't want to miss the metro.
ReplyDeleteCaroline, I like the "inspirational" poster! The video you posted adds something new to the discussion of our response to appearance: the influence of group dynamics. I was really struck by the newsperson saying that in situations like this--when we're in public and someone needs help, but everyone is walking by--we are caught between two rules: 1) Help people; 2) Do what everyone else is doing. I was expecting that the second rule would be "Don't get involved."
ReplyDeleteThe poster is indeed very cute!!! The video chocked me too, but it is very true! We don't think about it but in situations like these we do tend to "stick with the pack" and do what everyone else is doing, we either help if everyone is helping or we don't since no one is. Most people don't get involved in situations that seem difficult, but some people like Mr Utterson was willing to help Jekyll, he wasn't willing to just stand by and watch his friend get into trouble. Mr Utterson did everything he could to help his friend. So some people do stray from the pack and do something to help others, which is very inspirational.
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